Tigers 12, Indians 3

Detroit – Gary Sheffield, Carlos Guillen and Placido Polanco hit homers off C.C. Sabathia, giving Detroit a win over Cleveland and contributing to the All-Star pitcher’s worst game of the year.

Detroit won the three-game series, pulling within a game of the AL Central-leading Indians.

Like Sabathia, All-Star Justin Verlander gave up a home run in the first inning before outdueling the first pitcher in the majors with 12 wins.

Verlander (10-3) gave up three runs – two earned – and six hits while striking out seven and walking none over seven innings.

Yankees 7, Twins 6

New York – Hideki Matsui hit a tiebreaking two-run homer in the eighth inning to lift New York over Minnesota. Robinson Cano and Melky Cabrera also homered for New York, which played without Alex Rodriguez for the first time this season. Rodriguez sat out because of a strained left hamstring.

Red Sox 15, Devil Rays 4

Boston – Coco Crisp hit a grand slam in the first inning, and Josh Beckett earned his 12th win as Boston beat Tampa Bay, the Devil Rays’ 11th consecutive loss.

The Devil Rays were swept for the third straight series. A fourth this weekend in Kansas City would pull them within one of the franchise record of 15 straight losses set in 2002.

Mike Lowell had a career-high four hits of Boston’s season-high total of 21, and he and Crisp each drove in five of Boston’s season-high 15 runs.

Athletics 3, Mariners 2

Oakland, Calif. – Nick Swisher and Bobby Crosby hit home runs to help Oakland win for the fourth time in six games. Chad Gaudin (8-3) continued his surprising season, allowing eight hits over 72â3 innings. The eight wins match his career total entering the season. He struck out three.

Angels 5, Rangers 2

Arlington, Texas – Kelvim Escobar won his 10th game, and Los Angeles avoided a three-game sweep.

White Sox 11, Orioles 6

Chicago – Tadahito Iguchi fell a single shy of the cycle, and Jermaine Dye hit a three-run homer to lead Chicago over Baltimore.